Last Minute Grocery Store Find For The Lazy Planner

There are options aplenty in most grocery stores for the last minute trip planner – yeah, I am talking about you “Hey man, it is 9:30 pm on a Friday, you wanna leave at 6 am to go backpacking tomorrow morning?” 😉

Sure, you can run through the local 24 hour market and grab a couple bricks of Ramen, a box of Pop Tarts® and some candy bars but if you think it out a tiny bit (like two minutes more time!) you can grab an easy meal and be satisfied as well. OK, keep the ‘Tarts, they are always tasty. Just give yourself 5 to 10 minutes in the store and you can be on the road and feed two easily.

2 string cheese packets (sold individually in the cheese aisle) or whatever flavor calls to you

2 Tbsp olive oil or see if the grocery store’s deli has packets and bat your eyes at them to get freebies.

or

4 mayo packets, which can be easier to find. Ask nicely at the deli. See below….

Directions:

In your trail beater, er…. car, toss the empty salad box in the back seat after gutting – you can be a goodie two shoe recyclers when you get home. Pack the dressing packet and pasta packets in your food bag along with everything else. Be sure to cram in the 6 candy bars and ‘Tarts as well that you grabbed. Note the time required to boil said meal. Usually this will be 12 minutes but you can cut the boiling 5 minutes short to save fuel. Also note the oil/water called for on the box. Usually all of the flavors have an ‘oil’ version as well as a mayo version. You can use mayo packets or oil, your choice – depending on what you can get in the deli section of your store.

Peel out, hopefully with a grande latte in your hand and Def Leppard pounding out of your windows.

Make it to camp for night.

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in your pot. Add in the pasta and cook for time noted, stirring often. To save fuel cook for 7 minutes, turn off stove and let sit for a couple more to finish. Leave the lid on tightly.

Carefully drain the pasta/veggies without dumping them on the ground. Pine needles don’t make a good fresh veggie, just saying.

Add in the chicken, the oil or mayo and water called for, stirring well. Shake in the dressing powder and blend in.

Ring-a-dingie-ding, dinner is ready.

PS: If you are trying to impress a potential boy/girlfriend with your mad camp cooking skillz be sure to stop by the bakery and snag two fresh baked cheese rolls or a small loaf of focaccia bread to go with it. And get some dessert as well. The ‘Tarts are bachelor chow, impress her by “finding” in your food bag an exotic (weird) bar of expensive imported super dark chocolate that “you always carry as you love it so much”. You can then tell her it is all hers as you love to see her happiness. Then you can pig out on the ‘Tarts 😀